If ingredients like flour, butter, and sugar and phrases like “ooey gooey” can combine to create a pocket-sized trademark, Rosie’s Place, in three northside Indianapolis locations, may have crafted a perfect recipe.
When owners Debbi and Michael Bourgerie moved to the area from St. Louis and decided to open a breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurant and bakery in Noblesville in 2010, they named it after Debbi’s grandmother, whose commitment to family and good quality food was their inspiration.
Debbi brought a St. Louis staple with her, Gooey Butter Cake. However, she wanted something a little more portable, and the Ooey Gooey Butter Cookie was born, along with iterations including peanut butter, chocolate chips, and even pistachios.
According to Carolyn Ferguson, a long-time employee, it wasn’t just the cookies that led to immediate fandom among visitors and the ability to open two additional locations in Zionsville in 2015 and Carmel in 2018.
“Everything we serve is homemade and fresh, all our soups, sandwiches, and other items,” Ferguson said. “The breads and rolls are made in the bakeries in our restaurants.”
Each Rosie’s Place offers a slight variation in menu and décor, but the Bourgerie’s commitment to creativity and community are their top priorities, said Ferguson. “One of the best things is when you have regulars who come in, and you know them by name.” The Bourgeries have also formed relationships with local farmers for many of their products.
In addition to gluten-free and children’s options among its traditional breakfast and brunch fare, Rosie’s Place offers brown sugar oatmeal pancakes, a daily quiche, breakfast tacos, burritos and quesadillas, a pork tenderloin benny, and “Eggs Blackstone,” described as “cornbread, split and grilled, topped with roasted tomato, bacon, two poached eggs, avocado, and hollandaise.”
The restaurants offer hot and cold brunch beverages, including craft beers, espressos, mocktails, and a special cocktail — a blackberry lime mimosa — with champagne, fresh blackberry pureé, and homemade, lime-infused simple syrup garnished with a lime wheel.
The lunch menus include soups, chili, salads, fruits, and sandwiches with unique twists like a salmon BLT, a three-cheese grilled cheese, and a turkey artichoke melt. The “Black Goat” is a customer favorite with roast turkey, whipped goat cheese, blackberry preserves, and baby spinach on multi-grain bread.
Rosie’s Place offers catering, carry-out, and shipping for its cookies, which are also sold in several area stores.
Veni Fields is a journalist and freelance writer from Virginia Beach.
Rosie’s Place
Three locations:
1111 W. Main St., Unit 100, Carmel
10 S. Main St., Zionsville
68 N. 9th St., Noblesville
